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The Critical and Creative Thinking capability is key to the development of consumer and financial literacy. Responding to the ever-changing consumer and financial landscape requires young people to be creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully. The Critical and Creative Thinking capability contributes to the development of the following dimensions of consumer and financial literacy.
Approximate proportion of the dimensions addressed by Creative and Critical Thinking
Through this capability, students develop the critical thinking skills of analysing, evaluating and synthesising information. They learn to discriminate between fact and opinion, question the reliability of evidence and draw reasoned conclusions. These are important skills for students when making sound consumer and financial decisions. Critical and Creative Thinking also equips young people to be innovative and manage opportunities at work, in the community and in their personal lives. Dispositions that enable students to effectively participate in the complex consumer and financial landscape, such as inquisitiveness, reasonableness, intellectual flexibility, open- and fair-mindedness, a readiness to try new ways of doing things and consider alternatives, and persistence are also enhanced by Critical and Creative Thinking.
Moneysmart for teachers and Tax, Super and You provide a number of interdisciplinary units and interactive activities that include aspects of the Critical and Creative Thinking capability.
Typically, by the end of Year 4, students:
Identify and clarify information and ideas
identify main ideas and select and clarify information from a range of sources
Organise and process information
collect, compare and categorise facts and opinions found in a widening range of sources
Apply logic and reasoning
identify and apply appropriate reasoning and thinking strategies for particular outcomes
Typically, by the end of Year 4, students:
Pose questions
pose questions to expand their knowledge about the world
Imagine possibilities and connect ideas
expand on known ideas to create new and imaginative combinations
Consider alternatives
explore situations using creative thinking strategies to propose a range of alternatives
Seek solutions and put ideas into action
experiment with a range of options when seeking solutions and putting ideas into action
Transfer knowledge into new contexts
transfer and apply information in one setting to enrich another
Draw conclusions and design a course of action
draw on prior knowledge and use evidence when choosing a course of action or drawing a conclusion
Evaluate procedures and outcomes
explain and justify ideas and outcomes